Inferior
by SlenderLouie
Summary: After a crackdown on Irkens who don't do their jobs is issued, Tak finds herself the first to face the new punishment: getting forced into a body of an "Inferior Species". As she gets used to her new body, she joins the Resisty and fights against the Empire she used to serve. My first fic.
1. The End

Author's notes section.

So, me and my friends were talking to each other one day, and one of them asked, "What do you think an Irken would do if they were forced into a body of another race?" We thought up many silly answers, like "SUICIDE" and "HOMICIDAL RAMPAGE OF DOOM YAY." The question stuck with me though, and I started to think, "Why? Why would the Irken be forced into the body? Would the Irken remember? Would they have trouble adjusting to the new body? Would they like chicken?" Okay, maybe not that last one, but I started to think up concepts.

1)Why would the Irken be forced into the body? Because the Tallest just didn't like them? Because they sympathized with the "Inferior Race"? Because they were defective? Because they didn't do their work?

2)Would the Irken remember? Originally, I'd chosen "no," because I thought it would be interesting to have someone going around with no memory of who they were, and possibly never find out. Maybe they would have an unexplained hatred of other races. I don't know why I switched to "yes."

3)Would they have trouble adjusting to the new body? Well, duh. If they got stuck in a Vortian body, they would have issues standing up. If they got stuck in a Screwhead body, they'd have trouble getting used to having a big honking screw in their head. If they got stuck in a human body... I don't know what they'd have trouble with but they'd have trouble with something. I was just throwing crap at the wall and seeing what stuck.

So, now that you've had a look into my thought processes, I hope you have fun reading my story!

Oh, by the way, I don't own Invader Zim. Nickelodeon does. Go yell at them if you want to buy it.

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><p>Chapter one: The End<p>

Her new body would have purple skin, horns that curved over her head, and pinkish eyes. She was nervous about the legs, though, zig-zags that had no feet. How did Vortians walk without feet?

Her new body had been prepared for her to inhabit it, all traces of the former inhabitant purged from the brain except for necessary biological functions and knowledge of engineering. She wondered how they'd figured out how to do it.

Her new body had gotten its voice changed to match hers. It was one of the few things she got to keep from her life so far. She didn't get to keep her SIR unit, or her uniform. Only her voice, her knowledge, and her memories.

They couldn't make it more obvious that they didn't want Irkens around that didn't do their duties.

Tak was one of those Irkens, she'd shirked her duty as a janitorial drone. She was facing the new punishment: she would be forced into a body of an "inferior species" of the Tallests' choice. The twin rulers had bickered with each other until a report came in that a female Vortian had attempted to commit suicide for the twenty-fifth time. "What is she trying to do, set some sort of record?" Purple had asked. "Let's try out the punishment with her!'

The girl had accepted the mind purge with open arms.

And so, Tak had been transferred to Vort, because the body was there and it would have been too hard to take all the equipment required to keep it alive all the way to Irk, then take a prisoner back to Vort again. Too expensive. Too time-consuming. Her cell had a latrine, a screen that was usually used so that Irkens could demand things from Vortians, and a bed. The screen didn't work. She knew this because there were wires that were crudely ripped out of the wall. She looked at her feet, then took her boots off and wiggled her toes for the last time. There was something else she didn't get to keep, something she used to take for granted.

She would do anything to keep them.

The guards came. They led her to the room where her body would die. In it were two beds. One was underneath a dome of glass, the new body laying under it, breathing softly, asleep, with a thick cable attached to the base of the neck, the pathway into the new body. The other bed was uncovered, with a hole in it.

"They're late." one of the guards said. "Don't they know this is prolific? That it could change the way we punish criminals forever?"

The scientists arrived just as soon as he'd said that. "Are we ready?" one of them asked.

"Yes."

Tak started to panic. "No. NO! I WON'T LET YOU!" She struggled to get away, but the guards were too strong. They pushed her onto the bed. She cried out as cables in the hole snaked their way into her PAK. They hurt. Glass rose above her, shutting her off from any escape. One of the scientists shouted something, but he was muffled by the barrier. Then, she felt herself slip away.


	2. Rebirth

Author's Notes

I just looked back at my notes for the last chapter. Boy, I think too much. Well, I'm about to think some more. Because there wasn't that much on Vortians on the show, I'm going to make assumptions.

First: Vortians are carnivores. This is because they have sharp teeth. I mean, just look at them! They're definitely sharper than an Irken's teeth.

Second: Vortians are mammals, or at least mammalian. I can't think of many reptiles with horns except for maybe dinosaurs, and I just can't think of Vortians as anything but mammals anyway. So there.

Third: A popular sport among Vortians before conquest was head-butting, which evolved from primal Vortians butting their heads together to establish dominance. Why else would they have horns? That's what deer, rams, goats, and other horned animals do with theirs.

That's enough thinking this time around. Once again, I hope you enjoy the story, and to go yell at Nickelodeon if you want to buy Invader Zim.

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><p>Chapter 2: Rebirth<p>

The glass slid away. A scientist shined a light in her eyes, and she squinted and raised an arm to block it. Suddenly, a loud ringing noise rattled her brain, making her cry out and throw her arms over her head, trying to block out the pain it caused. The scientists said more things, but she couldn't understand them. The sound ended. "Wiggle your fingers for us, please." She did so, because she had the sneaking suspicion that they had caused the noise. "Good, now lift your legs and stretch them, one at a time." She did that too. "Good. State your name."

"Tak."

"And what was your encoding?"

"Janitorial Drone."

"What race were you?"

"Irken."

"What race are you now?"

"Vortian."

"Okay. Which diffuses slower: hydrogen or nitrogen?"

"Nitrogen."

"We've done it! She's all there!" The scientists exchanged handshakes. One ripped out the cord, causing her to cry out again. Bandages were wound around her neck, and then she was taken to a cell that was exactly like her old one, except it had another Vortian female in it. She was gray skinned, with long horns and green eyes. "You're that girl, aren't you? You just became Vortian, right?"

"Um... yes."

"Well... I'm Saki Hir."

"I'm Tak."

"Do you know why they flopped you in with another Vortian, instead of keeping you alone?"

Tak honestly didn't have a clue."No."

"So you could learn to walk if necessary."

"But... I can teach myself!" Tak struggled to stand up. "See?" She fell backwards. "Ow!"

"Try again, but this time, shift your center of balance forward."

"Okay." Tak got up again and leaned forward a bit. "There you go. Now try taking a step." Tak lifted her leg, then put it down a couple of inches ahead of her. "Good, now do it with the other." She tried, but fell on her face. "Oww..."

Saki Hir approached her, ready to help her up. "No... I want to try by myself." She got up and managed to take six steps before falling again. She crawled to the toilet and used it to boost herself up. That time, she managed to get across the cell and halfway back. "Did you see that? I think I'm getting the hang of it!"

"You're doing great! Keep going!"

Tak got up and was able to get around the entire cell before she fell down. She kept practicing until her steps were no longer slow, but still a little shaky, and guards came. "Dinner time," they said.

They were led to a large room with long tables that had dozens of Vortians seated at them, eating. Saki Hir led Tak to a table where a few more females were eating. "Look!" One of them cried. "Saki Hir got a cell mate!"

"Hey guys. How's it going?" Saki Hir said as she smiled.

"We're still in prison. Who's that girl?"

"She's... that girl."

"Oh... the Irken."

"Yes. She's Vortian now, and she can't change it. Be nice."

They sat down, and two table drones served them bowls of mush. Tak took a spoonful and tried it. It was disgusting, and judging by her tablemate's giggles, she'd made a face. "Isn't it delightful? If you're lucky, it won't clog you up!" One of the girls yelled.

"Hey, the body's probably already been clogged up." Tak said weakly.

Another girl tapped her shoulder. "See them?" She pointed to a cluster of guards. "They're guarding the garbage tanks, so people don't try to jump in."

"Jump in? Why would anyone want to do that?"

"The Vetkin Splodey System hasn't been taken out yet." Saki Hir explaned. "If you manage to jump in, and if you don't get yanked out, and you manage to dig in deep enough, then you can escape." She smiled weakly. "My brother tried it. I don't know if he made it."

They chatted for the rest of the meal. "ALRIGHT! REPORT BACK TO YOUR CELLS NOW!" an Irken yelled. Almost at once, the Vortians stood and started to file out of the dining room. As Tak left, she tripped. A purple skinned male helped her up. "Are you okay?" he asked in a deep voice. She caught his prisoner number out of the corner of her eye: 777. "I'm fine, thank you."

"You're wel- ARRGH!" One of the guards had come over and given him a shock. "Hey! What was that for? He was just - AAAHH!" She'd gotten a shock as well. "Get moving."

Tak blushed, then managed to find her cell mate. She followed her to their cell and sighed as the door slid shut behind them. "Worst day of my life. Ever." She sat on the bed and curled up, and barely managed to keep her tears inside of her.


	3. Slave

Author's Notes

I freaking hate electrical storms. They fried my hard drive. They erased all trace of this story from my laptop. They made my family invest $191.04 in surge protectors, because they also killed the TV.

DISCLAIMER HAIKU

By Slenderlouie

IZ is not mine

Nickelodeon owns it

* * *

>I rock at Haiku.<p><p>

Tak sipped her water carefully. Half a year had passed since she'd been forced in. She was a little clumsy, but otherwise her walking was pretty normal for a Vortian.

She and Saki Hir were working on with other Vortians on a Megadoomer that day. In the Irken's minds, Vortians didn't deserve to sit on their butts all day, growing fat off of the Empire, so they were forced to work on the weaponry. According to the Irkens, it saved money too. _Well, whoop-de-freaking-doo_, she'd thought to herself when she heard about that.

Water. She had to conserve it if it was going to last the whole work day, because she only got one bottle. She let the sip rest on her tongue for a while, then swallowed it while clipping the bottle onto her belt. Then she started to scale the half-finished Megadoomer and into the cockpit to wire the leg controls up. "Pass the cable up, please."

A thick cable emerged through a hole in the cockpit. A chill ran down her spine when she saw it, for it reminded her of the very cable that put her in that body. She quickly plugged it in. "Found new hardware. Testing." a voice intoned. The Megadoomer's leg lifted itself five times.

Suddenly, Saki Hir dropped down beside her. "Tak... do you remember what to do now?"

"Oh!" Tak started to pry at the control panel. She managed to wrench it off in a few minutes, then unhooked a wire cutter from her belt and cut the wires that brought energy to the cloaking device. "Hah, let's see them try to hide now." When she was first forced to work on a Megadoomer , she'd found out how easy it was to cut the cloaking device's power. She'd done it ever since – well, actually, all the times she remembered to do so.

Saki Hir started to leave. "Hey Saki Hir? Thanks."

"No problem." Saki Hir hoisted herself out of the rim and was gone.

Work. It was boring, it was tiring, and it always made her thirsty. She unclipped the water bottle and took a sip that caressed her parched tongue and throat on the way down. She then realized how much she'd drank. _It's halfway gone already?_ A feeling of panic rose in her chest, then diminished as she clipped it back onto her belt and told herself not to drink as much anymore. As she crawled out of the cockpit, she wondered how she'd handle the situation if she were still Irken. She'd noticed she was more emotional, but didn't know why. "Hormones," someone told her once, "It's your hormones. You're not used to them, and the former occupant of your body was depressed. Your mind is cheerier, even though you were in despair when you went in, so you're producing happy and sad hormones at the same - this sound stupid, doesn't it?"

She looked up as a rack of Megadoomer armor descended from the ceiling. The Vortians took welding tools off their belts and attached the thick metal plates onto the steel skeleton. The light of the sparks danced across their unprotected faces. A young man cried out. Despite the Irkens trying to stop them, the others rushed over to help him. He held his burning eye while tears welled from the other which was bright yellow, and his short horns quivered. His gray skin had become ashen. "M-m-m-my eye... My eye!" He fell into a kneel and vomited.

Saki Hir was kneeling beside him. Quickly, she unclipped his bottle, pried his hand off of the eye and poured water into it. Steam rose out of it, and she let him cover it up again. "Does that feel better?"

"Y-yes, but... I can't see out of it."

"It's gone, Tayne. There wasn't anything left."

He wailed. "Saki, what do I do? I'll be killed!"

Saki Hir embraced him. "I don't think there's anything left to do but pray."

An older, purple skinned male with red eyes and long, curving horns. "Let us all join hands now, and pray that this fine young man..."

The burnt-eye male looked up. "Mil Tayne. My name is Mil Tayne."

"... Mil Tayne lives a very prosperous afterlife." He joined hands with the nearest ones, and so did the rest. Tak closed her eyes reverently. _Please... supreme deity... or deities, although science has quite likely proved your existence false, and you've probably forsaken us anyway, please grant this guy eternal salvation, or something like that. And don't pretend not to hear me just because I was Irken. I heard somewhere that you love everyone, so why would you-_

An Irken guard knocked her over. The Vortian next to her caught her, and she looked up just in time to see Saki Hir being grabbed and taken away. "Where... where are they taking her?"

"She... she's going to be executed a week from today."

"I..." Tak felt a tear run down her cheek. Saki Hir, the girl who taught her to walk, the girl who taught her the ropes, and her first Vortian friend was as good as dead? She couldn't believe it.

She knew she'd collapsed into tears. She knew she'd had to be carried back to her cell. She didn't know why fate hated her guts.

She'd decided to sleep to get her mind off of it, but it was too hard. She didn't want Saki Hir to die, but she couldn't do anything.

She'd never felt so helpless, so alone, so inferior.


	4. Escape

Author's Notes

Gee, I scare myself sometimes. Like the nightmare in the beginning of this chapter. To all those who haven't had a huge, mind**** of a nightmare, let me tell ya, you'll get one someday. Don't worry – well, do worry, you can't expect what your subconscious will dish out. Most likely it will serve up a huge, steamy bowl of WTF and OMG OMG OMG WAKE UP WAKE UP _WAKE UP_!

Before you yell at me for all the gore, my friend has alerted me to the large amount of gore in a single scene in the fourth Twilight book, which is targeted at teens. Also, I promise this will be the only gory scene. If I break my word, then feel free to... do something. I'll also put the nightmare in bold, so you can skip it if you like. It's not plot important, anyway.

On a lighter note, the second listed character shows his face.

Hey, Nickelodeon. I promise to clean up my mess after I'm done playing with the toys you had Jhonen Vasquez make. I've even made my own! *points at Saki Hir*

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><p><strong>That night, she dreamed she was alone in a dark room with the Tallest. She was Irken again, but she had Vortian legs and horns, and there were blotches of purple on her skin that reminded her of bruises. Both of the Tallest were smirking at her. "Look at her, Purple, isn't she a <em>freak<em>?" Red sneered.**

"**Yeah. I can't think of anyone quite as freaky as her. Zim doesn't even cut it close." Purple bobbed his head as he spoke. "What should we do with her?"**

"**I think we should cut her open, and see what makes her tick." Red seemed eager for bloodshed.**

"**Or, we could put her on display for everyone to see! We could make people pay to see her, so we have even more monies to by food with!"**

"**Why not do both?" A table appeared behind her. Cuffs flew out of it and grabbed her, then reeled her in. A table drone walked in, dressed in black, carrying a tray of old-fashioned surgery tools – old-fashioned in the Irken and Vortian senses, anyway. They were still being used in Human hospitals, and some were even alien things the Humans would probably never think of. Not that Vortians and Irkens knew that.**

**Suddenly, lights turned on overhead, revealing an entire audience of Irkens. "Wow, we sure sold out fast, huh Red?" **

**Red smiled down at Tak "Of course we did. Who wouldn't want to see the Tallest rip apart some freak?"**

**Someone in the audience gasped. "That's what this is?"**

**Red ignored him. "Ladies and Gentelmen, good evening. I hope you've eaten dinner, because I don't think you'll want any after our little show." He grabbed a scalpel from the tray. "If you're weak of heart or squeedily spooch, please leave now. I know I wouldn't want to get barfed on, so I'm sure I speak for the person in front of you."**

**Purple grabbed a marker and drew lines where the incisions would be made. "She's all yours, Red."**

**Tak started to breathe heavier."No, my Tallest! Don't hurt me! I... I don't want to die like this!" she pleaded. "Please?"**

**Red looked at his co-ruler. "Purple?"**

"**Yes, Red?"**

"**Sew her mouth shut."**

"**Will do!" Purple took a hand-held stitching machine and held her mouth shut, then ran it over her lips. Her pleas and screams were trapped behind lips and stitches. "There. I don't think she'll protest any more."**

**The crimson-eyed Irken's smile seemed to reach across his face. He then started to cut away at her skin. Tak's screams of pain were muffled, and tears ran down her cheeks. No one seemed to want to lift a finger to get her off the table. She had a chance of survival if the freak show was called off before Red could do further damage. "Oh, look, here's her muscles. Should we go deeper?"**

**The crowd roared in reply.**

"**Good." Red plunged his scalpel into her muscle tissue, slicing it off and placing it on a second drone's tray. "Oh, look, here's all the squishy stuff." Quickly, he reached in and ripped an organ out, then held it high for the crowd to see as her blood dripped onto him like a grizzly shower. She passed out.**

Tak's eyes snapped open. It was raining, her body was covered in sweat,and she was no longer asleep. Or was she dead? She reached behind her back to feel for a PAK, and found the back of her prisoner uniform. She sighed in relief.

Tak then went back to sleep, but woke up when a large hole got blown in the wall for some reason. Outside, a spittle runner hung above the shipyard. Curiously took a hold of her and she rose from her bed to look outside. More importantly, however, she was also checking to see if she could possibly escape. As she crept up to the hole, something scary caught her eye. A hooded figure was running towards her cell! She fought the urge to scream, dashed back to her bed and pulled the covers over her head. _Not that it will do me any good, _she thought._ They probably already saw me._

Moments later, she heard a grunt. The person had entered her cell. Slowly, they peeled back the sheets. _Alright. Time for self defense! _

"KYAAAH!" She lept on the person, pinning them to the ground. She slipped the hood back, revealing a familiar face... one she'd seen in crime watch pictures... she gasped. "You're the Resisty guy!"

At the same time, he shouted, "You're the Irken girl!"

They stared at each other for a moment, then he pushed her off of him and stood up. "Where's Saki?" he asked

"... Death Row."

"What for?"

"I dunno... she and a priest formed a... prayer circle-ish thing for a guy who got his eye burnt out."

A small chuckle escaped his lips. "That's Saki. Come on." He flipped his hood up, then looked at her. "Hmmm... you should probably hide your identity..." Quickly, he grabbed the sheets from the bed and handed them to her. "Wear this as a hood."

"Umm... okay." She wrapped it over her head and tied it. "Is this good?"

"Yeah, that's great." He turned and climbed out of the hole, and she slowly followed behind. "See that Spittle Runner? It's ours."

"What... oh, you... stole it?"

"Yeah." He grabbed her wrist and ran with her to the runner. By now, guards were coming out of the prison to stop them. "Halt!"

"Resisty... guy!" Tak yelled. "They're gaining!"

"Oh, geez, is _that_ what Irkens refer to me as?" Tak's statement was true, the guards were getting closer, but so was the Spittle Runner. Its altitude decreased, and a gangway extended from it. They dashed up the gangway, and just before the guards grabbed them, the door closed. Tak slid down the door with relief, while Resisty Guy went off somewhere. She rubbed her face as she tried to bring his name to the surface of her memory. It didn't come to her. "Well, crap."

Resisty Guy came back. "Hey."

"Hey."

"In case you're wondering, we're heading over to death row."

"I figured you would."

Silence. "Do you want to come?"

"Sure."

There was more silence until the door opened. Tak fell backwards down the ramp, shouting exclamations of pain as she tumbled.

"You okay?" Resisty Guy shouted from the top.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She got up and turned to see death row prisoners staring at her through another hole in the wall.

Tak did what any sensible girl would do.

She blushed. "Well... heh heh... that was graceful."

"Tak!"

She perked up when she heard Saki Hir's voice. "Saki Hir! Where are you?"

Her friend stood up and waved. "Help me get this guy to his feet!"

Tak climbed in the hole. She saw Saki Hir and the priest kneeling by Mil Tayne, who was holding his eye and moaning. "His eye got infected," Saki Hir explained, "and now pus is coming out. He's running a high fever, and he's been having delusions. We think it might be Siabis."

"What's that?"

"It kills quickly and swift. He needs medical treatment as soon as possible." the priest said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Resisty Guy coming through the hole.

That's when all hell broke loose. Irkens came in and started to bust up a bunch of Vortians. They obviously weren't expecting a riot to form, which it did. Saki Hir held Mil Tayne close, protecting him from any blows. An Irken started to go for her, but Tak kicked him in the gut, then while he was doubled over in pain, she held his shoulder and punched him in the same area. More Irkens drew near, and Tak's Invader training kicked in. Sure, some of the stances she had to adjust for, but she felt she did good enough. Resisty Guy grabbed Saki Hir by the wrist. "Saki, let's get out of here."

"Okay. Help me carry Mil Tayne to the ship, okay, Nar?"

_Nar._

_Lard Nar? That sounds right._

Tak watched the priest follow the trio out, then dashed to the hole and climbed out herself. Lard Nar was standing at the ship's door. He smiled at her. "Are you coming with us?"

"Hell yeah!" She ran up the gangway into the ship.


	5. Donuts

Author's notes: Yo. After a bit of writer's block, I kinda wondered what our buddy Zim would be up to. So yeah, no Tak in this chapter. Well, there kinda is, but she's only mentioned in passing. I also felt we needed some comic relief after the nightmare, so Zim's getting donuts for the Tallest.

ONTO THE DISCLAIMER! *steps onto the disclaimer* I don't own Invader Zim. If I did, this fic would probably already have been aired, albeit more kid-friendly. Oh, and a shot of Pig Boy crashing into Sizz-lorr would have been included in Frycook. Hopefully, I'd be able to get a crotch injury. Because it's funny.

* * *

><p>Zim glanced at the tiny screen as a breaking news jingle played. He wondered if it could actually be called a jingle, because it wasn't exactly a jolly tune. Thinking of the word <em>jingle <em>brought his mind to the song "Jingly Bells," which made him think of holidays.

Holidays. Irkens had them, usually celebrating past Tallests and conquests. Humans, though celebrated ridiculous things: scaring demons away, colonists pigging out with natives, a baby being born from a virgin mother, love, and the aforementioned baby dying for everyone's sins were a few of them. They also celebrated the days they were born. He hadn't thought he'd celebrate the Dib-stink's birthday, but it turns out he did due to a certain thing happening: Tak's transfer. He'd put the video on a DVD and mailed it to Dib, along with a note that said:

_This happened on your birthing day, Dib. I thought you'd like to see it. After all, she's one less thing you have to worry about now._

_-Zim_

Dib hadn't said anything about the DVD to him. Perhaps his sister or father had gotten hold of it before him.

Something – no, someone - smashed his head against the control panel of the Voot Cruiser. "Gir... GET OFF MY HEAD!"

"Sorry Master. You looked like you were in a trance, so I wanted to snap you outta it!" The robot said as he slipped off.

Zim realized he had gotten off track. He was supposed to be thinking about the mission at hand, not about Tak! He glanced at the news again, and saw an old coworker of his. _Lard Nar? _The news anchor went on about how he was the leader of a resistance, and that he'd busted up a prison to free a bunch of other Vortians.

He looked up before Gir could slam his face into the control panel again. The Tallest had insisted that he get something for them, so this side mission was super important.

"Are we there yet?" Gir asked. Zim looked at his SIR unit and smiled a soft smile, an act that always seemed to make Gir more obedient. "Almost. Look, it's right over there!" He activated the cloaking device on the Voot Cruiser and landed next to the dumpster. He put on his disguise and broke into the building. The bakery had closed for the evening, but the scent of baked goods still hung in the air. He spotted his prize and snatched the boxes, then exited as quickly as he could. _Success! _he thought as he entered the Voot Cruiser and went home as fast as he could, contacting the Tallest as he did so. "My Tallest, I have secured donuts for you!"

Their eyes lit up with glee. "Really? How many are there?" Purple asked.

Zim counted the boxes while he pushed Gir away from them. "There's six boxes of them."

"Six? Only six?" Red seemed upset as he spoke this.

"I meant six for each Tallest." They seemed even more excited than before. "Oh, and I sampled a few a couple days ago to make sure they were safe for you to eat. They are." Although the donuts weren't hard to obtain, he didn't want the Tallest wasting one to see if they were edible. "I'm going to send them through express mail, okay?"

"Err, that's actually kind of a bad idea, Zim." Purple said. "You see, the slaves have been switching addresses on packages lately."

"Oh. I don't want them getting stale. How should I ship them, my Tallest?"

The Tallest whispered to each other for a moment. Zim was able to reach his base by the time they came up with an answer. "We're sending someone to grab them for us, okay?" Red told him. "We've thought up a secret password so you know that's them. I'm sending it to you now." With that, they cut off the transmission. Zim took the donuts inside and locked them where Gir would not be able find and devour them. Or at least he hoped.


	6. Meekrob

A.N.: Okay guys, I've been plotting the story out, so that I don't get stuck and that the fic won't die. So, I'm almost done, and I'm afraid I must be the bearer of bad news for some of the fans.

Gir will not be a plot-important character. In fact, in most of the chapters he won't make an appearance. I'm also planning a sequel and he probably won't show up at all in it.

For those of you who are going "WAAHHH LOUIE YOU SUCK YOU PUT GIR IN THE BACKGROUND HOW COULD YOU DO THAT I'M TELLING MY MOMMY" , don't worry. Hopefully Shloonktapooxis will make a nice replacement for Gir. I honestly can't see any purpose for Shloonk except to raise everyone's spirits and hopefully he will be doing exactly that.

TL;DR version: Less Gir, More Shloonktapooxis.

This will also be one of the more happier chapters due to Shloonk and a new OC.

* * *

><p>"Tak, you need to get up now."<p>

The Irken-turned-Vortian rolled over and blissfully ignored Saki Hir. She didn't want to leave the bed. It was wonderful, heavenly compared to the awful cot she had to share in the prison. Speaking of the cot, she still had the blanket she stole from it. She added "theft of government property" to her mental list of crimes and wondered how much trouble she'd get in if she got arrested. She started to think about her first arrest when Saki Hir pulled the sheets out from under her. Tak tumbled to the floor and hit her head. "Ow."

"Yeah, ow. Come on, everyone's left except for some girl who came on the ship to see Nar." Saki Hir pulled Tak up and led her to the exit ramp, where, true to Saki's word, was some girl. The girl was actually a young woman, and she was Vortian. Her skin was as white as snow, her eyes as red as rubies, and her horns were striped in red, black and purple and also had holes in them. Tak rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, and she wasn't. "Uh.. hey."

"Hey there!" The girl smiled and shook hands with both of them. "I'm Jio Sari. I'm going to be your roommate!" She stood back and flashed a toothy grin.

"Hello, Jio Sari, I'm Saki Hir, and this is Tak." Saki Hir said. "Umm, my brother, did he tell you -"

"That you two would be joining the Resisty? He did, and he assigned you two to share a room with me!" Tak figured that Jio would turn out to be the type of girl who was always happy, all the time. "Hey, what about me?" she asked. "Did he tell you-"

"That you're really Irken? Yup!" Jio started to lead the two away with an obvious spring in her step.

"But I'm not Irken. Not anymore." Tak said defiantly.

The bounce in Jio Sari's gait decreased noticeably, and her happy expression sank. "Oh. I'm sorry." The three walked in silence all the way to the main compound, where Jio Sari's pep found her again. "Oh! This is where we do all the planning and stuff! It's also where all the members of the Resisty stay!"

That got Tak concerned. "But where do all the non-members stay?"

"Oh, there's a refugee colony. Come on, I wanna show you our room!" They continued on to a whole hallway full of members of the same species. They were squat and striped, reminding Tak of Earth bees. "Hey, what's going on here?" Jio Sari asked

"Oh, nothing." somebody answered. "We just like crowding around." The bee creatures filed away until the hallway was empty. "Well that was weird." Saki Hir quipped. "Do they normally do that?"

"Yeah, we usually disperse them in the same way too." Eventually they got to the room. "Ta da! Home sweet home!" The door slid open to reveal a simple room, with a bunk bed on each side. "Okay, I've got the top bunk on the right. You two can choose whichever ones you want. If we get another roommate then they're going to have to deal with whatever we've left."

Tak looked at the ladder on one of them wearily. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to climb it, so she figured it was better to be safe than sorry. "Uhh.. I'll take a bottom bunk." She then plopped herself onto the bed she wanted. "This one."

"Okay. How 'bout you, Saki?"

"I think I'll take a bottom one too."

"Really? Well, that's your choice. Come on, I wanna show you around some more." Jio grabbed Tak by the hand. "I'm gonna show you the little town we've got set up."

"You mean the refugee colony?" Tak asked.

"Yup. Come on, let's go!" The girl dragged Tak out of the base, with Saki Hir following them close behind. "Outta my way, I'm gonna show my new best friend around!"

"Wait, new best friend? Since when did we agree on that?" Tak's question seemed to go unnoticed, and when the three stopped in front of a large glass building, it was apparent it wouldn't get answered anytime soon.

"Okay, this is the hospital. Down that way is the fire station. A little further is the place where all the refugees live..." Jio Sari prattled on as she walked towards the direction of the fire station. Tak and Saki Hir followed her for no obvious reason except for the fact that they didn't want to get lost. A few hours later, they arrived at a pub. "Aaand here's our final stop. You guys want something to drink? I'm thirsty."

"Yeah, that sounds nice." Tak muttered. "Maybe something to eat too."

"Well, we can get it here." Jio opened the door. "Hey everyone!" Quite a few members greeted her in return, leading Tak to assume she frequented the pub often. The bartender waved the three over with a tentacle. "Your usual, I presume?" It asked in a raspy voice as it fluttered translucent wings.

"Yep." Jio Sari said cheerfully. The bartender got to work, it's appendages flying every which way. It set an aquamarine drink in a tall glass in front of Jio Sari and gave emerald ones to Tak and Saki Hir. "That the newcomer's special. It's on the house."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Tak studied the drink carefully before sipping it. "Oh... it's good."

"Glad you think so. It's a family recipe."

"Really? Wow."

"You're never gonna taste it again. I know every face who comes in here, and I only give them my special drink once."

"Hey. Hey guys." Jio Sari said suddenly. "You might wanna ask me any questions you have now, before I get too giddy to answer anything."

"Oh, ok. What's up with your horns?" Tak blurted out.

"They're tattooed and pierced. Do you like them?"

Saki Hir coughed and said, "How about something more relevant? Who's paying for all this?"

"Oh, the Meekrob are. Since they only use their money for power plants, they had tons of it."

The three chatted until the bartender asked if they should have been heading out. "You guys have been here long enough. Poor Jio's kinda pickled."

"No I'm nooooot." Jio Sari mumbled. She laid her head on the bar. "I'm just – I just – I just got a headache."

"Well, maybe we should take you back to the main compound." Tak suggested. "Perhaps you could lay down for a while."

"I don't _need_ to!" Jio insisted while slamming her fist down.

"Well, then, I'm leaving." Tak scooted off her stool, taking a second to correct her balance. She felt a little dizzy, probably from the drink. She stumbled her way out of the bar and into the sunlight. _Okay, if I go left from here... I don't know where I'll be. Crap. _She decided to wander around, figuring she'd eventually end up at the main compound.

Half an hour later, she was starting to realize she was wrong. Before she could do anything about it, a purple cone-like creature charged at her screaming "JELLY!"

"AAAH!" Tak fell backwards, then struggled to get up again. "What in the world was that for?"

"I was askin' you if you like jelly!" He replied.

"Well, that's not the conventional way to do it, but... I guess so." She said as she finally regained her balance.

"My name's Shlookntapooxis, what's yours?'

That question caught her off guard. "Buh... huh? How did we go from condiments to introducing ourselves?"

The cone smiled gleefully. "Nice to meet you, Buhhuh ?"

"No! No! It's Tak. My name is Tak."

"Oh, that's a _booooring_ name."

Tak sighed. "Whatever. I'm going back to the compound." Tak started to walk off.

"Hey, I was going there too! Maybe we can go together!" He floated in front of her and pointed his tip towards her. "We gotta go that way, though."

"Oh, really? I didn't know." She turned around, thanking her lucky stars that he'd found her. All the way back to the base, he babbled on about things that didn't make sense to her. He also replaced the word "Resisty" with "Pirate Monkeys" as if the first name was taboo. Tak didn't ask him why, figuring that it was probably best not to ask.

When the two finally got back, Shloonktapooxis barged through a whole crowd of Bee Creatures and a Meekrob while Tak sighed and shook her head. _Time to go back to my room._

She wondered what she'd do when she got there. She didn't know she'd get a surprise when she opened the door.

It was her new leader.

"Oh! Uh... I'm sorry Sir, were you waiting for your sister?"

"No, I was waiting for you." He motioned to her bed. "Here, let's sit down."

She followed his order cautiously, watching him closely as he took a seat next to her.. "Okay. What do you want?"

"Well, you remember the prison break, where you fought off those Irkens?"

"Yes." It had only been two days ago – or at least it seemed.

"The fighting style you used – it's very similar to the hand-to-hand combat used by Invaders."

"If you're implying that you think I used to be an Invader, you're mistaken." She got up and paced a few steps. "I was trained to be, but... I missed the test. I was forced to wait to take it again, but quite obviously I couldn't wait that long. I went after the person who made me late, for revenge, and got arrested shortly after that."

"Oh... uh... I was going to ask you if you could probably teach me the things you learned."

She turned to face him, and looked him in the eyes. "You're absolutely sure that's a good idea? For all you know, that could piss off the Empire even more than you already have."

"Well, since I'm a high-target criminal, they'd be most likely to send an Invader after me, not a soldier."

Tak pursed her lips. "Do we still have Tenn in captivity?"

"Of course we do. I could use your teachings if she ever decides to make a break for it."

Tak rolled her head until she heard a satisfying pop. Swiftly and suddenly, she leaped at him, grabbed his shoulders and twisted to the ground, throwing him in front of her so that he would land before her. "Ow! What the heck was that for?" He demanded.

"Lesson number one. Always expect an attack. Do you understand, Lard Nar?"

"Hey, weren't you calling me 'Sir' earlier? What happened to that, Tak?" he said as he struggled to get her off of him.

She pinned him down by the shoulders. "When I am teaching you a lesson, I refer to you by name, and you refer to me as 'Teacher'. _Do you understand, Lard Nar?_"

"Lesson... oh! Yes, I understand, Tak – I mean, Teacher!" He squirmed a little bit.

Tak got up, but lost her balance and fell on him again. "Shit! Sorry..." She rolled off of him and said. "Our first lesson ends now. Come back when you can."

"Okay, I will." As he left, she crawled to her bed and reclined on it. _What a day,_ she thought. It was the strangest day of her life, and had felt like some sort of dream, only she knew she wasn't dreaming because she wasn't half-Irken half-Vortian like she normally was in her dreams. As she shifted around, she noticed that the bed felt lumpier then it had when she'd first sat on it. She lifted up the top sheet to find the prison blanket. _How'd this get here? _It dawned on her that Lard Nar had brought it for her to keep. She folded it up neatly and slipped it underneath her bed.

Perhaps it would come in handy later.


	7. Poss

Tak stared Lard Nar down. The two had been working on defense for a couple weeks now, even during the travel to a planet she'd never heard before. "You know, I don't approve of the recent plan."

He rolled his shoulders to loosen them up. "So? I'm the leader. What I say goes."

She charged him, and he grabbed her arms and started to push. "Okay, now push with your core muscles." She instructed as she pushed back.

"My _what_ muscles?"

"You know, your abdominals."

"How the heck do I do that?" He was starting to give.

"Pretend you're doing a sit-up."

He pushed harder, and eventually got her to fall over. "Good job, Lard Nar!" She said as she peeled him off "I recommend doing sit-ups whenever you get the chance. Our lesson ends now, leaving us..." She glanced at the screen that kept Lard Nar up to date on what was going on, and saw that they would land soon on a planet called Poss. "... maybe twenty minutes before we land?" She got up and made for the door.

"Tak, before you touch the surface of that planet, I want you to arm yourself." Lard Nar ordered.

"Right away Sir." She went off to the ship's armory, where the door scanned her and let her in after confirming she was a Resisty member. She selected a small pistol and clipped a holster to her belt to carry it.

She was ready.

She made her way to the main chamber of the ship to catch Lard Nar's speech. "Alright! We are currently in the kingdom of Couixer, which is one of the superpowers of Poss. Keep in mind that the natives have only reached the technological point of making steel weapons, so try not to use too much of our own. Now, I want you all to split off into groups – if we all storm the capital at once, then the guards will be alerted, and the last thing we need is to make a bad impression. If all goes well, a Tallest will be in our hands by the end of this little escapade. This is our greatest moment! _Let's go_!"

The entire Resisty cheered and separated into little clusters. Someone grabbed Tak's hand; it was Jio Sari, grinning as she usually was. "Come on, Tak, be in my group!"

"Okay!" Tak followed – or rather, was dragged – to a rather mixed group. Mil Tayne greeted them and pried Jio Sari off of Tak. "Hey." he said and smiled shyly. An eyepatch covered his ruined eye. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then Jio interrupted him. "Okay, everyone, this is Tak, she'll be in our group."

Someone behind Tak coughed nervously. "Uh, I'm sorry, I... think that group over there's a little small! Who knows what could happen to them!" They slithered over to the "small" group and said something about not being able to trust an Irken. Tak decided she wanted nothing to do with that person, and guessed that if she was still Irken, she would have plotted for that person to have a little "accident."

"Okay, can we go now?" Jio whined. "I want to get a head start on all the others!"

The group unanimously agreed, but as they went to leave, their former member approached Jio Sari and pulled her aside. "You know, she's going to mess your group up horribly." They cast a glare filled with contempt towards Tak. "How do you know that she won't mess us all up? That she's not a spy? My advice is to kill her out there and say that those reptiles did it."

Tak cleared her throat. "I can hear you!" she shouted. "And for your information, I cut my ties with the Empire when they decided I wasn't good enough to be Irken anymore. I'm sure most others like me agree."

"I'm sure you'd go back, given the chance!" They snarled and left as fast as they could. Jio Sari made a rude gesture at them and waved her group on. They marched out into a nice, grassy, plain. A town sat in the distance. The town was where the Tallest were, nestled safely in the palace. "Okay, so I did some research, and I found out members of religious institutions can pretty much go anywhere, including the palace." Jio Sari said as she pulled out robes from a bag she'd carried out with her. "I got a robe made for everybody. Once we put these on, we'll be able to sneak into the place and they won't even question us!" Tak took hers, and when she slipped it on, she found that the hood contained a veil that covered her face. She watched as Jio put her hands in front of her face like she was praying and followed suit. The others did too as they made for the capitol. Eventually, a Possian rode past on a strange beast. It reminded Tak of a race from a game she'd played on Earth to pass the time. If she remembered correctly, the race was called "Argonian," and looked exactly like Possians. She'd eventually gotten bored of the game and labeled it as a waste of time.

The Possian halted his beast and bowed his head in respect. Tak heard Mil Tayne breathe a sigh of relief besides her. Inside her mind, she did too. She didn't want to get in a fight that early into the mission.

The small party hustled into the gates of town. The whole planet was really starting to remind Tak of the Elder Scrolls game, and she was starting to wonder if she'd landed on the world it took place in. She resisted the urge to giggle at that thought. She needed to get serious, not think about some silly game from a planet she was sure she'd never touch the surface of again. In a few moments she'd be in the palace, kidnapping a Tallest! The mission required her full undivided attention.

The palace door loomed above the small group. The guards at that post bowed their heads just as the beast-rider in the field had done. _Wow, they must really trust their holy people,_ Tak thought as Jio Sari told a guard who they wanted to see. He nodded and led the party to the throne room. There, the King of Couixer sat relaxed on a gilded throne, with the Tallests sitting on each side of him on intricately-carved wooden chairs. _This is it,_ Tak thought nervously. She glanced at the back of Jio Sari's head, to see what she had in store.

Jio stepped forward. "Your Majesty. I and my Faith-Siblings have come to see if the rumors are true, that two men really came down from the sky with an army to defend us from harm." She nodded towards Tallest Red. "It appears that they are."

"Dearest Sister, I assume you've traveled from far away." The King bowed his head in reverence. "I would be honored if you spent a few nights at the palace."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." A guard stepped forward to lead the group to the guest rooms. As they left, Tak watched Tallest Purple gawk at them. _Why is he looking at us like that? _she thought. _Is he... jealous?_

Tak's room was rather plain. A simple bed sat in the corner, and a few bookshelves lined the walls. She didn't get to test the bed, because Jio Sari burst in and dragged her to her room, along with the rest of the team. "Okay, phase two!" Jio whispered. "We're going to wait for nightfall and then we'll sneak into one of the Tallest's rooms, knock him out, and get him to the ship!"

"Okay, sounds simple, but how do we knock him out?" Mil Tayne asked.

"Well, uh, I was going to bring a can of knock-out gas, but... I left it behind. So we're gonna have to do it the old fashioned way."

"Why don't we try tricking him?" Tak suggested. "Tallest Purple will be easier to fool then Red. We'll tell him that we want him to escort us around town, and that it would be an insult if he doesn't do it. Then, we'll get him somewhere secluded and knock him out, dress him in a robe -we've got a few extras, right?"

"Yeah, we do."

"Okay, good. We dress him in the robe and 'help' him out of the city. Our two tallest members will support him."

"Well, that definitely sounds better than just clobbering him and dragging him out. We should probably wait a while, though. We don't want trouble for the poor holy people we're impersonating." Jio Sari waved everybody out, and Tak went back to her room, sat on her bed, and picked up a book. When she opened it, she found that it was full of unintelligible markings. _This must be their language,_ she guessed. The words looked like they were hand-written, and when she turned the page, she found an intricate painting. The colors were very, very vivid, and there were even tiny patches of gold. _How much did this cost in their currency? _she asked herself as she flipped through more of the pages, looking for more paintings to stare at while she waited.

After she'd gone through three more books, Mil Tayne came to her door. "Tak, there's been an incident. Another team's shown up and they're taking a more direct approach!"

Tak threw the book over her shoulder. "Really? This could be the distraction we've been waiting for!" She followed him to the courtroom, where other members of the Resisty were threatening the Tallest. She leaned over to Mil Tayne and whispered, "Okay, you go over there and call the Tallest to you. I'll grab Purple and get him out of here."

"Got it." He ran near the giant door in. "Hey! Over here!" he shouted while Tak ran up to Tallest Purple. Without waiting for acknowledgment, she grabbed his hand and started pulling him out. He resisted a little, but relented as he realized that she was trying to help him avoid capture.

When they beat it out of the castle, she told him that she saw one of their ships out in the plains earlier that day, and that perhaps he'd be safe if she got him in there. "Does that sound okay?" she asked as they ran into a stable and stole a beast.

"Yes! Get me on that ship and off this stupid planet!" He demanded. _He's just like I remember him,_ Tak thought as she helped him onto the saddle, then followed him up. "I will, just give me a moment." She found the reins and pulled back on them, making the beast grunt and plod backwards out of its stall. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a member of the other team running towards them. She dug the ends of her legs into the beast's flanks, making it squeal and start charging. The thing was surprisingly fast for its body shape, to the point that the buildings surrounding them seemed to blur together. They left the city and made for the Resisty's Spittle Runner. "Y'know, I don't remember a Spittle Runner being this close," Purple shouted over the wind. "Are you sure it's ours?"

"Of course it's yours." she answered. "You own all of the ships, don't you?" In her mind, she thought, _Please, Vortian deities, don't let him bail on me._

"Those people you saw have stolen ships from us. That could be one of them!" He pointed at the Spittle Runner and squirmed behind her. "I don't really want to find out the hard way!"

"Don't jump!" she warned him. "You could hurt yourself!"

He squirmed again. "No! I don't wanna go!" He launched himself to the ground and cried out in as the beast trampled his legs. Tak halted the beast and got off, leaning over him.

"See, that was foolish. Now let's get going before they get you."

He winced as he sat up. "Your voice -ow- sounds familiar..."

_Oh no! He recognizes my voice! What to do, what to do... _"Must be a coincidence. Come on. Up you go." She grabbed his hand and pulled him up as he hissed in pain, then jerked his hand away. "No! I'm not going with you!"

"Alright, fine." She reached under her robe and took out her pistol. "I guess there's no point in keeping up the facade. Come with me or I'll shoot." she said as she pointed the pistol at him.

He gulped as he stared at her. "The rest of your little group... they weren't really holy people, were they?" He said as he slowly got on the beast again.

"You're right," she said as she crawled into the saddle and pulled back her hood, since the charade was broken. "Do you remember me?" she asked as she spurred the beast on. "Last we saw each other, you were deciding on which body to put me in."

He whimpered. "...Sorry?"

Tak ignored him as the ship came into view. "Whoa." The beast halted at her command, and she slid off and waited for Purple to follow. He got off the beast, winced, and floated up the gangplank sullenly as she followed him closely, making sure he didn't try anything funny. As soon as he entered, two Resisty members grabbed him and clamped a bowl-like device over his PAK. He gasped in shock, then sighed. "Alright. Take me to your crappy leader, I guess." he moaned. They led him off, and Tak followed them like a young hogulus followed its mother – closely, and ever-watchful. She didn't want anybody taking credit for what she'd done.

In the main chamber, Lard Nar was sitting in the captain's chair, reclined in a lazy way. He sat up instantly when he saw who was being dragged into the room, his eyes wide with delight. "Wow! A few hours is all it took? That's amazing!" He hopped up and ran over. "Who did it?"

"My group did, and a different group kinda helped." Tak said. "You see, they were taking the direct approach, and I made him think I was helping him get away."

"Clever. Take him to the storage room and lock in there. It's not a cell, but it will have to do." The two Resisty members nodded and dragged Purple off unceremoniously as Lard Nar put his arm around Tak. "Good job out there, soldier. To be honest, I wasn't expecting you to bring him in. No offense, of course."

"None taken." She didn't know why she'd take offense to that statement. After all, she was only one of the many members of the Resisty. She was certain he didn't doubt her abilities, either. "So now what?"

"Uhh.. you can go back to your room I guess." He gave her an apologetic look. "We could also do another lesson."

"No thanks. I think once per day is enough." she said, silently pleased that her student was so eager to learn. She poked him in the belly, eliciting a small chuckle. "Did you do what I asked you to?"

"Well, I've been overseeing the mission, making sure nothing went wrong. It would look kinda weird if I did sit-ups too."

"You've got a point there. Come on, let's go to your room and then you can do that." She started to walk off towards the corridor that would take her there.


	8. Abducted

A/N: Okay, I honestly have no excuse other than the fact that I had extremely bad writers' block. This is the one part that I didn't work out in the plot... so after a long amount of time, here's chapter eight. Enjoy.

Two weeks, and people were still congratulating Tak. Even those who had criticized her, said she was worthless, gave her a begrudging respect. At first it had been nice, but after a while the constant cries of "Hey, it's that girl!" got boring, then irritating. When she got up that morning, all she'd wanted was some bacon and a shower, not for forty-two people to stop her and shake her hand. She took her shower as quickly as possible, hoping nobody would burst in. Then she sneaked down to the kitchen, grabbed some bacon, and slipped back to her room where she could eat in peace. She did what she could to avoid her new shadows.

Suddenly, the alarms rang. The base was under attack! Tak groaned and set her bacon aside, knowing that someone would come ask her to help. She picked up the pistol she'd used to capture a Tallest and dashed up to the roof. Lard Nar was already up there, giving orders to everyone present. As she approached, he pointed at her, shouted something that was drowned out by the surrounding gunfire, then pointed at a turret. She nodded in understanding and raced to grab the controls. She pointed it at the nearest ship and fired, sending it spiraling out of control. The rest of the battle went by in a similar fashion, and it all just blurred together.

After the fight, some refugees came to the compound and demanded to see Lard Nar. They were granted access, and were led to the main room, where they instantly started yelling at him for the battle. "They could have come after us!" a hairy person yelled. "After they were through with you, they could have gone for the refugee colony!"

"So we've fought them off, but you're _still _complaining?" Lard Nar asked, with his forehead furrowed in frustration. "Would you rather we didn't do anything at all?"

"Sir, this is the fifth attack since you brought the Tallest here! He's obviously endangering all of us!" a Screwhead woman cried.

"Well, where do you suggest we keep him?" The room grew silent. "That's what I thought."

"Why don't you ask your little Irken friend for help?" someone sneered. Tak recognized the person as the one who'd criticized her before she'd left to kidnap the Tallest. " If she kidnapped the bastard, she probably knows some place to keep him."

"Look, I don't know what your problem with Tak is, but -"

"You know exactly what my problem is with her! It's because of the special treatment you give her!" He flicked his slimy tail towards his leader.

"I do not! Unless you're referring to our lessons, in which case I'm learning about Irken society from her." Lard Nar glared his subordinate down. "Do I make that clear, Belvin?"

_So that's his name,_ Tak thought as the creature growled. "Fine." The crowd slowly dispersed, and she marched up to her leader's side. "You know... Belvin – that _is_ his name, right? - _did_ have a good idea. I know a planet that's far beyond the reach of the Empire. So far away, that they banished -"

"Their most hated Individual there. You're talking about Earth."

She mentally facepalmed. Of course he knew! "Right... I'm pretty sure I know someone who can help us on Earth. I could go out there and see."

He hopped down from his chair and grabbed her shoulders. "Tak, I know why you're here."

"Yeah, I'm talking to you because I want to help you."

He shook his head. "No, Tak, I know why you're _here. _The underlying reason to why you're Vortian at all."

"Because I told you!" she screeched.

"Wait, were you really..." He paced for a moment while he thought. "Okay, I guess you _were_ the first one to tell me. You never told me the whole truth though, so if you're going back just for round two with Zim, then..."

"I'm not!" she snapped. "I'm beginning to think you don't want my help!"

"Of course I want your help, I just..." he sighed. "I just don't want you blindly rushing into danger."

"I'm not blindly rushing into danger! I know what I'm doing!" She wanted to smack him for being so silly! "Look. I've been to Earth before. All I'd need to do is convince the natives to help us, which would be easy. They're not that bright, and wouldn't even notice that the stand they're buying weenies from is a hundred stories tall! Besides, you could probably hold off Tenn for about an hour now."

He growled."Okay, fine. Go ahead and go to Earth. If you don't get anything from the natives, come directly back. Got it?"

"Yes, Sir. Thank you!" She skittered off to pack what she needed. Soon, she had enough food to last her two trips, a couple changes of clothing, and a small game to keep her mental capabilities in check. She then wrote a note to her roommates explaining where she'd gone.

Tak went to the hangar to find a suitable ship. She settled on a ship built for speed, not for combat. Soon, she was out in space, on her way to a planet she figured she'd never see again. She happily hummed a song one of the refugees had written when it was clear turning back would no longer be an option. They weren't too bright, so the words didn't really make sense, but the tune was pretty.

Suddenly, the ship rocked violently, throwing her into the windshield. A muffled cry came from the cargo compartment, and she looked back there to find Shloonktapooxis in her stuff. "What are you doing here?" she shouted. "Did Lard Nar ask you to follow me?"

"Naaah, I decided to follow you myself." He said with a lopsided smile. "I wanted to surprise you!"

"Oh you surprised me alright... It's a rather unpleasant surprise. You do realize I only packed enough food to feed myself, right?" she asked. If Shlook wanted to come with her she'd need to stock up on Earth food once she got there if they needed to come back – and she wasn't so sure she wanted to eat Earth food.

"Maybe we could get some from that big ship!" he chirped.

"What big ship?"

"Y'know, the big ship that's pulling us in with their tractor beam!"

She turned around to see a ship of unknown origin. "Oh." She grabbed for the controls and tried to shake the ship free, but it was no use. "Crap! Looks like we're going to have to fight our way free." she said as she slammed her fist into her console angrily.

"But they're gonna give us food!" he said as their ship was admitted into the docking bay.

"Ugh... for all we know, we're going to be the main course!" Tak readied her pistol as strange brown, bug-eyed aliens surrounded her. One of them smashed the windshield with a metal pipe, sending shards of glass raining down on her. Then they bashed her over the head with it, causing her to feel dizzy. She pointed the gun in their general direction and fired, but it missed and hit the wall instead. One of them hoisted her out and started to carry her over its shoulder. She screamed and beat at the alien's back while trying to squirm free, but it shoved her into a small cage. She hissed and shook the bars, making her look like some sort of ravenous beast. Finally, she gave up and punched a bar, then felt a few of her bones shatter. She yelped, cradled her now useless hand with her good one, and laid down. They'd taken her pistol away, so she couldn't use it.

Eventually, they dumped her in a small cell, similar to the one she'd been deposited in when she'd first become Vortian. It was obvious her broken hand wasn't going to be fixed anytime soon, so she grabbed a sheet off the bed, tore some of the fabric off, and wrapped it around her wound as tightly as she could. She wasn't exactly sure if that would help it or make it worse, but it sort of helped the pain. _Ugh. I'm in captivity again, and this time there's nobody to keep me company..._

"Hi!"

_Well, I guess I won't be alone after all! _She thought as a tiny Vortian hugged her legs. She couldn't have been much older than four Vortian years, with icy white skin and ruby red eyes, and dressed in a simple white gown. However, something was wrong about her, and as Tak looked closer, she saw the pair of Meekrobian wings flapping on the girl's back. "Oh, dear... what did they do to you?"

"They fused me!" The girl smiled, showing her perfectly formed teeth, causing a chill to run down Tak's spine. "But I don't think they'll do it to you. They were looking for you!"

"Me? What do they want with me?" Tak asked, confused.

"Well, they said you had an Irken trapped in you, and they wanted to see if they could get her out!"

"No... no! They can't put me back in there! Even if they could, the Empire would never allow them to have my old body!" Tak screamed.

"They said they got it for cheap."

"Oh for crying out loud!" She kicked at the cot. "I've got people counting on me! I can't go back!"

The girl's eyes blinked, once, twice. "Why not?"

Tak shook her head and sat down, then pulled the girl into her lap. "Irkens only care about themselves and the Empire, sweetie. The people who are counting on me don't like the Empire."

"Oh. Well maybe you could tell them that you don't want to go back." The girl hugged her. "I'd help you!"

"I doubt that would work. They didn't ask me if I wanted to go in the first place." She hugged the girl close and felt herself start to sob. She wanted to fight her way out of the cell, grab Shloonktapooxis, and get the hell out, but they'd already proved that it wasn't going to be a good idea.

They came for her. "Experiment 506. You're needed."

Tak rose and headed for the door. "So I'm just a number to you too, huh..."

The girl ran ahead of her and somehow pushed her back. "Nuh-uh. I'm not letting you take my friend away!" The two aliens who'd come to take Tak instantly stood back. One of them whispered about electrical discharge. Tak took advantage of this distraction, scooped up the little girl, and ran. About halfway across the ship, she suddenly tripped, sending the little girl flying into a wall. Someone pinned Tak to the ground. "That was quite crafty. We should have expected-"

A large bolt of electricity interrupted the alien's speech. "Come on! Let's get out of here!" The girl yelled as she blasted the alien away. Tak got up and ran after the girl.

"Did you do that?" she asked the girl as they entered what looked to be a lab.

"Yup." The girl suddenly stopped. "This is the place where they do _bad_ things." She started to sniff a little. "Sometimes people don't come out."

"Well, why don't we make it so that they can't do bad things?" Tak asked with a grin. "I bet you could do it. Just zap the machines and they'll break."

The girl's face lit up. "Okay!" Lightning arced from the girl's tiny body, running its tendrils over every inch of exposed metal. Sparks popped from machines with no discernible purpose. Alarm bells started to ring as the scent of ozone filled the air.

"Good job." Tak said as the lightning faded. She went to pat the girl on the back, then stopped as she realized the girl probably wasn't safe to touch. The door suddenly fell forward, and all kinds of different aliens poured into the room. "Hm. The thing that keeps the cells closed must have been in here." she noted. "Shloonk! Where are you?"

"Mutiny!" the cone howled. "We're havin' a mutiny party!"

"That's nice, come on! We're getting out of here!" Tak grabbed the girl and started to dash towards the hangar. She heard screams all around, from both the captives and the captors. It was just like the night she escaped the prison on Vort, only this time, many races were fighting against their oppressors.

She found her ship and placed the girl inside, then reached for her pistol. She then pointed it at the door, only to realize she was holding air in her bad hand. She hissed as a jolt of pain burst in her hand. "Argh... that's right. They took my gun."

Shloonktapooxis hovered through the door holding a large sack full of something. He dropped it in the ship as Tak climbed in. She started up the ship and got away as fast as she could. It wasn't long until the large ship was out of sight. "Do you think everyone's going to be okay?" the girl asked.

"I think so." In reality, Tak wasn't so sure. It was obvious that people were getting hurt, possibly even getting killed. There was no way to tell unless she went back. "Alright, what's in here?" She dug through the sack, making sure she didn't bump her bad hand on something. "Is this... all food?" There would be more than enough for the three of them.

"Your gun's in there too, I think." When she heard that, she dug even deeper. There it was, at the bottom of the sack. She lifted it out happily.

"Alright! With all this we should be good to go!" She said with a grin. "Well, as long as my hand doesn't get worse, anyway."


	9. Earth

A/N: Alright, sorry for not updating in a while, but I got kinda distracted by a ton of stuff over the summer. Plus, my beta reader's starting a Portal/Zim crossover and I'm helping her with that. But hey, you get Gir and a really weird metaphor in this one, so I'd say it's worth the wait.

Also, some have you may be wondering who the heck drew that picture of Vorty Tak. That was my beta reader, so she's awesome. Another thing that's awesome is that two people from Malaysia viewed this fic in the past month. Dear Malaysian readers: You're freaking awesome. Don't ever stop being awesome, okay? That goes to all my readers out there, too, whether you're from New York, London, Moscow, Tokyo, or any other city that's freaking awesome because it has one of my readers in it.

Disclaimer: I claim dis. I do not, however, claim ownership of the Invader Zim franchise.

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><p>"Proximity warning. Planet ahead."<p>

"Uugh. Finally." Tak reached for the controls and initiated the landing sequence. Soon, she'd be back on Earth, and she hoped there was a place in a location convenient to her. She initiated a scan of the surface, watching as various suitable areas appeared. As luck would have it, there was one right where she wanted. She dialed in the coordinates and waited for her ship to land.

The ship touched down after about an hour, and she climbed out. If a human happened to stumble across her, which would be unlikely given the time of night, it would be fine. After all, she was there to see if the humans would be open to an alliance with the Resisty. Speaking of which, she hadn't told Lard Nar about her incident or the girl, who she'd learned was named Nevi Miho. She had, however, told him that Shloonktapooxis was with her, and he'd reprimanded the cone. Her hand was healing up pretty well, too, but it still kind of hurt to use it.

She started to design their base, trying to make it so it stood out. Then again, some humans couldn't find their own home if it came up to them and ate them, so she did what she thought would work. After she was done, she threw the base seed out into a patch of dirt, where it drilled into the ground and sprouted into a candy pink house. It wasn't as hideously tacky on the inside, though. She went to the mission control and contacted her leader. "Sir! Reporting in from Earth. My travel here was uneventful at most, with an... incident along the way. I'll be scouting the area, though chances of a human being awake are unlikely."

Lard Nar nodded. "That's good news. Carry on with what you were doing." As the transmission ended, Tak became worried that Zim would pick it up somehow. _Well, if he comes after me, I'm sure I could handle him._ She thought as she went back out again, wondering if it wasn't a good idea to leave Shloonk alone for more than two seconds.

She traversed through the streets, with no set destination in her mind. After a while of meeting nobody, she realized she was heading towards Zim's house. As she turned, a familiar squeaky voice rang out from behind her, and she groaned.

"Hi lady!" A pair of faux fur-clad arms encircled her waist. She pushed the robot away as if he was burning hot, not wanting to interact with him, and ran. Gir cackled and ran after her, dodging the random things she picked up and threw at him. Eventually, she tripped on a branch that was laying haphazardly in the road. He gasped. "Oh! Lady, are you hurt?" Instead of running to her, though, he ran to a nearby trashcan and climbed in. "I'm gonna get help, 'kay?" With that, he tipped the can over and rolled down the street, eliciting a cuss word from somebody who was trying to sleep.

"Well, there goes that nuisance..." Tak said as she got up and brushed herself off. She walked on until she reached Dib's house. There he was, perched upon his room, listening to the stars, and he seemed excited. Had he been listening to her? For some reason, she felt nervous approaching him, but before she could decide to leave he spotted her.

"Tak! Is... is that you?" He cried, then slid down a waterspout. The boy examined her closely, then grinned. "It is! Oh, I'd thought you'd never come back! I mean, I picked up your transmission, but I thought I was just dreaming!" He embraced her, and she returned the favor, though something was bothering her.

"How... how did you recognize me?"

"Oh, uh... Zim gave me a video of the process. It happened on my birthday." He explained. "Come on!" He said as he dragged her inside. "You might want to see this!" As the two passed the couch, a small groan of annoyance emanated from the furniture. Gaz didn't seem to care that there was an alien in the house. Instead, she looked angry that Dib was interrupting her precious TV time. The boy ignored her and continued up to his room, sat down in a rather nice chair, and started clicking and typing at his computer. "Here! It's your ship!" He swiveled the monitor to face Tak. "Well, it's not legally yours, since by Irken legal standards, mind transferring is a form of deactivation -"

"Wait, what?" Tak interrupted him. "What's this about deactivation?"

"Well, the broadcast explained that since the PAK has no mind in it, it can't function, which is very similar to deactivation. The comatose bodies of the former Irkens are then kept for experimentation, and safeguarding hardware is placed inside the PAKs to prevent their former owners – or anyone else, for that matter – from getting back in."

_I could have died at the hands of those... roving scientists!_ Tak thought in horror. _Or at least been trapped in a computer. _She shook the ugly thought from her head and continued Dib's explanation. "I remember now... on the event of a deactivation, a the Irken's property is instantly relinquished to the Empire. Dib... if any Irken finds out you have ties with the Resisty, you could be in for a _lot_ of false accusations."

"The Resisty... from what I've heard in transmissions I managed to get from Zim, they're a criminal organization that is opposed to the Empire... are you one of them?" He asked with a grin.

"We prefer the term freedom fighters, but yes." Tak said.

"Oh, man, that is _so_ cool!" Dib said giddily. "Who you were talking to? Was that your leader? Can I talk to him? Can I can I can I?" he gushed.

"Well, I suppose you could, but -" He dashed out before she could finish. "Hey! Get back here!" She ran after him and grabbed him by the jacket. "As I was about to say, he might not like the fact that the first human he talks to is a child."

"Oh, well, I could patch him through to my dad, I guess..." Before Tak could disapprove, he added: "Who could tell someone more important then him..."

"Alright, alright! I'll let you talk to Lard Nar!" Tak growled. He squealed a little and dragged her to the garage. It kind of stank in there, but she ignored the odor as Dib crawled into her old ship's cockpit. "Now, I'll warn you – that's an Irken signal that sends out. He may ignore it."

"No it doesn't – I have this thing that changes the signal type. I used it to mess with Zim a couple times." He snickered a little, then continued. "I made a custom signal for Earth, so he will most definitely answer."

"Oh, interesting... would you be willing to share the schematic for this?" The device could be very helpful. The Resisty occasionally had problems with Irkens listening in on their transmissions, so if it was disguised as an Irken signal, the Empire wouldn't bother.

"Oh, of course!" He popped the control pad off the dashboard and shoved it towards her. "Do you mind contacting him?"

Tak stared in amazement. Not only had he made a signal-masking device, but he'd managed to make the control pad removable as well? Not bad, for a child on a planet that was a bit behind on its technology! "Not at all." She quickly plugged in the necessary info, then handed it back to him. "Nice job on that, by the way."

"On... what? The removable control pad? You had a couple wireless jacks laying around, so I used those." Dib said as the transmission waited to be answered.

"Wait, I did? Oh, yeah, I was going to try something with those and MiMi, but..." she dropped off as the transmission was answered. Dib's face lit up and he squealed a little when Lard Nar appeared. "Dib... remember what you called him for." She reminded him.

"Oh, uh, right. Um... hello, uh, guy..." He said, visibly flustered.

Lard Nar didn't seem amused. "Tak... who is this?"

Tak groaned. "This is Dib, he begged me to let him talk to you. Let's just say I owe him a _lot_."

"Oh... I see... but his head, it's so -"

Dib snapped out of his blissful mood. "My head is_ not_ big!" He screamed with the fury of a thousand teenage girls who had been denied the chance to see their favorite boy band.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down!" Lard Nar shouted. "I didn't mean to – I'm sorry! I had no idea humans were sensitive about that!"

"Look, it's fine. I'll just put you through to my dad right now, and maybe we can talk later." He punched at the control pad angrily and then crossed his arms once the transmission had been passed along. "I don't think I like him very much."

"Just because he accidentally insulted you?" Tak asked. "He's from another planet, Dib. He can't be expected to know what sets you off and what doesn't."

The boy sighed. "I guess you're right." He looked at her sadly. "But it... it isn't that big, is it?"

"No, of course not!" She said quickly. "Your head is perfectly proportioned to the rest of your body!"

"Thanks. So what now?"

"Hmm... do you happen to have a certain video game?" She had the sudden urge to play it.

"Uh, I might. Which one?" She told him. "Oh, the sequel to that came out recently! I have it installed on my computer – you can make a file for yourself if you want."

"Thank you." They both went upstairs, and started up a new game. After watching the opening cutscene, Tak chose the race she wanted to use. Dib peeked over her shoulder. "Argonian, huh? That's a pretty good choice!"


	10. The Silliest Chapter

A/N : Alright, this is more of a filler chapter, but meh. This sort of expains how the Empire finds out who's doing their job and who isn't though. Plus, we also find out why the Foodening stopped, with a cameo from a show I keep meaning to watch. This also shows my beta reader what happens when I'm feeling mischievous - I try to shove a certain word into each paragraph. I'll let you guess what it is.

By the way, the Control Brain's name is pronounced go-loan-yen.

Disclaimer: Invader Zim does not belong to me, yada yada yada. I'm eating a burger!

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><p>The mighty control brain loomed over an Irken, who was at his mercy, with a wire stuck into the tiny creature's PAK. He, Golon'yn, had been hand-picked for the position of Judge of Position Efficiency by both the Tallest and control brains that were higher ranked than him. He was young, smart, and eager to do the job. He would see how well the Irken was doing in their position, train them if they were doing it incorrectly, give them a new job if he thought they were more suitable to be something else, and if they had stopped doing their job with no good excuse, he would ship them off to be put in one of the sillier-looking bodies. He'd always thought Irkens were the least silly-looking people in all the universe – others had four arms, or feetless legs, or were just weird looking.<p>

The Foodening was over since another time anomaly had occurred. He'd heard it was because of some silly-looking guy in these silly clothes with a silly blue box that could time travel, but he thought that was silly. Golon'yn's workload had increased, but he didn't mind. He happily sifted through the massive amounts of Irkens.

He released the drone he'd been working with. "Alright, see you after the next Foodening, I hope!" Then, he called the next Irken into his Judgement Chamber, or as the other Judges of Position Efficiency liked to call it, the "Silly Chamber." They'd even talked an Irken to hang a sign over the door that said "Silly Chamber." He thought that was silly.

"Hello, Sizz-Lorr!" He liked to greet Irkens, even if the others thought it was silly and his voice was deep and intimidating. The Frylord was intimidating as well, and Golon'yn guessed his voice was deep too. Sizz-Lorr didn't say anything, though, so Golon'yn carried on with his work. "Okay, it seems that you didn't do your job for a while, but you were pardoned from that by the Tallest themselves! Lucky you!" Golon'yn was often told that his cheerful disposition sounded sarcastic because of his voice, but he often told those people that they were being silly and they usually shut up. "Also, you worked on days you'd set aside for vacation, so that would have made up for a lot of it! So, I'm increasing your pay by a couple thousand monies per Irken Orbit!"

Sizz-Lorr seemed surprised. "Really?"

"Yes! We're set until your next evaluation. We're a bit ahead of the clock, though, so if you'd like, we could talk a bit."

"Uh... talk?"

"Of course, silly!" Golon'yn loved talking to the Irkens, even if the other control brains thought it was silly. "I've been pretty busy, so I haven't seen the news,"

"Oh, well... a fleet of Resisty ships was spotted. They didn't tell us what they were up to before shooting at the ship that saw them, but they did confirm that Tallest Purple is alive. Battered, shaken up, but alive."

Some of Golon'yn's circuits cooled in relief. He liked Purple, and he was pretty sure Purple was fond of him too. He'd had a small position on the Massive (that he'd thought was pretty silly) before he'd become a Judge of Position Efficiency, and he and Purple talked together a lot, often about things that frustrated the Tallest. The two had kept in touch after Golon'yn had been moved to Judgementia for his new job. When he'd heard Purple had been captured, he'd been so distraught, he almost hadn't been able to do his job! That would have been really silly! "Well, I'm glad he's safe."

"'Safe' is not the word I'd use. Alive, but in the hands of the Resisty, he's definitely not safe." Sizz-Lorr crossed his arms, as if to drive this home.

"But they wouldn't just kill him, that would be silly!" Golon'yn argued. "Their leader's smart – he knows that a Tallest is a good barganing chip. He could probably... get a... ooooh, dear..."

"Is... something wrong?"

"No, no, it's fine... I just realized something. Silly me!" He opened the door. "You can go now, I need to fix a few things."

"Okay, go right ahead." Sizz-Lorr nodded and left. Golon'yn immediately contacted Tallest Red. "My Tallest! This may sound silly, but I think I know what Lard Nar wants!"

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><p>AN: I am so, so sorry if "silly" no longer looks like a word.


	11. Nightmares

A/N: Fun fact: This chapter, excluding the author's notes section, has 1,111 words. I totally did not plan that. So, as you could probably guess from the beginning of this title, more nightmares. Whoopee.

Also, if you're going to complain about the ship I'm going to introduce, you might as well stop reading now. I will laugh at you, and when I have children and grandchildren I will tell them about you and they will laugh at you as well. I've seen some pretty good fics and an actual published novel that involved shipping that I didn't like, and you know what? I LIKED THEM. I didn't die because I read them. I didn't have to be checked into a mental institution. I was perfectly fine.

Disclaimer: I really think you should know by now that Invader Zim doesn't belong to me.

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><p>"<em>Who's there?" <em>

"_You fool! You let me twist you around my finger...sure, there were a few who questioned my motives – who you should have listened to – but I've silenced them."_

"_You... you _killed_ them? And where'd you get that PAK from?" _

"_Now, now, I didn't say anything about killing, did I? Once I'm through with you, the Tallest won't be able to ignore my wishes, and I'll be able to go back to my old body! "_

"_Tak, think this through for a second. I've done nothing but treat you well, while the Tallest threw you away!"_

"_Oh, quit complaining. You should enjoy your pitiful life while it lasts, Lard Nar. The little masquerade was fun while it lasted... but the Tallest want a dead Vortian, and they want him now!"_

"_Tak! _Please_!"_

Lard Nar sat up straight, snapping out of the nightmare. "Oh... what was that about?" He knew Tak wouldn't try anything like _that_, right? Besides, Tak clearly didn't have a PAK – if she did, she wouldn't be allowed within twenty feet of him!

Still, no matter how much he reassured himself, he was having trouble getting back to sleep, so he decided to walk around the brand new facility. As he got out of bed, he made sure his pant legs didn't get caught under the ends of his legs. The humans had been nice enough to provide pajamas, even if they weren't tailored to most of them – his left the ends of his legs cold, and most Vortians tripped over theirs (especially Tak), but other than that they were comfortable. He slipped out of his room and squinted into the glow of the vending machines that were situated right outside his door. The place still smelled of fresh paint and lumber, mostly because some parts were still being built. He'd been amazed at what the humans had done in a month.

As he wandered into the main lobby, he was greeted by the night shift's desk worker. "Hello, sir! Were you perhaps looking for the girl who's sleeping on the couch over there?" She pointed a turquoise fingernail towards the furniture in question.

"Well, no, but thanks anyway." He went over there and looked at the aforementioned girl.

It was Tak. He hesitated before sitting next to her. It wasn't like she was suddenly going to wake up and jump him, right? He studied her face. It was serene, peaceful, and nothing like the face her nightmare version had worn. However, her calm expression was soon marred by a grimace. "No..." she muttered. "No! Stop!" She started writhing and clawing at herself. "Get them out! Get them out!" She cried, getting the attention of the desk lady. As the woman trotted over in her pointy heels, Tak managed to open a huge gash on her arm, which coincidentally was the same one that she'd broken the hand of. The desk lady went back to her position and called the medical wing.

Lard Nar grabbed his ailing crew member and shook her gently. "Tak. Tak! Wake up, it's only a dream!" he shouted.

Her eyes snapped open. Tak leaped up and embraced him, gasping and shaking, seemingly unaware of the wound that was now staining his shirt. "Ah... what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep. Come on, let's get you to the medical wing, they're expecting you there." He picked her up and set the ends of her legs down on the floor.

"But..." Her gaze slid to the drop of blood sliding down her arm. "Oh... did I do this?" she asked as she put pressure on her wound.

He sighed and put an arm around her shoulder, and walked her down, not hesitating to sit her down on one of the beds there. "Er... thank you." she offered as the nurse on duty treated her arm.

"No problem." The two were out of there almost as soon as they'd walked in. "Alright, so... back to bed, I guess." Tak said sullenly. She didn't seem too happy about it..

"Well, we could go out." Lard Nar suggested, not knowing why he'd done so.

"Out where?" she scoffed. "We're in out pajamas, for crying out loud!"

"Doesn't matter." He whisked her out the door, before she could protest. Tak didn't seem to mind, though, because she was giggling. Eventually they came across a playground, and she ran and scaled the side made of plastic that was molded to look like a castle. "Hey, be careful!" He shouted after her. "Don't mess up your arm!"

She cackled and tossed a stray woodchip at him. "Come and get me!" she challenged.

"Alright, you asked for it!" He scrambled up the rock climbing wall. She squealed and ran off, and he darted to a plank bridge. As soon as she ran past, he tackled her. "Got you!" he said, then realized she was shaking and making little whimpering noises. "Oh... oh no... I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She rolled over, laughing, and slapped his chest. "Tag, you're it!" she screamed and ran away as fast as she could.

The two played tag, and once they'd gotten tired of that, they sparred with each other, and after they'd gotten bored of that, sat on a bench and talked. "So, what were you doing on that couch?" he asked.

"Oh... I had a nightmare, so I decided to go walking... before I'd knew it, I'd passed out on the couch, but then I'd had another one where Tallest Red had implanted little machines that writhed under my skin and _laughed_ at my pain." Tak snuggled a bit closer, and he could feel her shudder.

"Ugh. At least it's only a drea. I'm pretty sure they don't do that for real... I hope." If they did, he was in for a _lot_ of pain if he was ever captured. He glanced at the horizon, and noticed a sliver of pink. "Oh, I think it's time we headed back."

Tak leaned over and planted a quick kiss on his lips, surprising him. "I missed you."

"And I missed you, too." he said, still shocked by the kiss. He looped his arm around her and led her back, all the way to her room. "I... guess I'll see you later."

"Right. Good bye, Lard Nar." She closed her door behind her. Lard Nar went back to his room, brushing off wood chips as he went. He settled into bed and thought for a moment. _I think_, he told himself, _this could be the beginning of something special._ Then he mentally kicked himself for sounding cheesy while drifting off to sleep.


	12. Bad News (Not part of the story)

Hey everyone! This is Slenderlouie's beta reader with a bit of bad news.

You know that big storm called Sandy? Well, Louie was visiting family in New York for a while with his laptop so he could work on Inferior. His folks didn't think Sandy was such a big deal. Then his laptop fell in a puddle and now it's completely fried. He has to save up for a new one, and his mom isn't so keen on him typing his fanfiction on her computer. But don't worry! Louie's got a hand-written copy which he has given to me, and it's actually complete! So, I will be typing it up in my free time.

This message will be erased once I get the next chapter up.


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